Academe

As you may have noticed, I often link to the wonderful Inside Higher Ed. They often have interesting, thought-provoking articles. Today, there are three I wish to share.

1) Well, I guess I'm a "plebeian" and a "Jacobin" regressing into "preadolescent nerdishness," because I too am a lover of encyclopedias, that "lowest form of secondary literature"! The disdain of academics, as Mr. McLemee points out, isn't entirely unjustified, but I don't care. Many is the hour I amuse myself with the random perusal of reference works. And it's not every day I find that I have something in common with Aldous Huxley (though I'm not so alphabetical about it)!

2) Last week, I linked to an apoplectic journalism professor. This week, the cause of his apoplexy responds. Frankly, I think they're both being a bit petty and unprofessional. I still say that a "Department of Cinema & Comparative Literature" is a weird pairing, too.

3) I find out that my dreams of becoming an English professor is in jeopardy because English is dead. Frankly, I'm just not convinced by her argument (which isn't all that clearly written, BTW). John Martin in the comments section pretty much sums up my reaction.